His wife was shocked to see his picture in the news and wrote to her local newspaper, the Wellesley Townsman, saying he was spoken for. The spontaneous kiss happened during the Boston Marathon

"When this story aired on the news we were pretty surprised," she wrote.

"For me, I'm not mad. Believe me, our friends have gotten a lot of mileage out of this story and I have thoroughly enjoyed watching them give my husband grief!"

The woman, who said she and her husband wished to remain anonymous, congratulated Ms Tatge on running the marathon and said she was glad the "spontaneous, silly moment in Wellesley captured the fun, energy and spirit of the Boston Marathon".

Ms Tatge, who replied to the letter on Monday to thank the woman, told the Townsman the woman was a "great sport" and apologised for any embarrassment caused.

She said she had been inundated with messages from strangers hoping for a fairytale ending to the story and was "overwhelmed" by the attention.

Ms Tatge, who started running after turning 50 and surviving cancer, said she wants to comlpete the Boston Marathon again but with one change.